Rick and I are continuing our study of the book of John, and the last few days, we’ve been studying John 2:13–22. Jesus had come to Jerusalem for the Passover, an important religious ceremony for the Jewish people. Passover was a very big deal for all Jews. Some traveled a long way to get to Jerusalem for the ceremony, from foreign countries like Egypt, Persia, and Asia Minor (modern Turkey).
When Jesus got to the city, He went straight to the temple and what He saw there angered Him. Deeply angered Him. The temple courtyard was filled with people, which you would expect. But it was what they were doing that angered Jesus. They had turned the temple into a place of business. Here they were—in the temple!—sitting at tables, taking the foreign currency of the foreign Jews and exchanging it for Jewish coins. And, there were all these animals in there too…oxen, sheep, birds… because animals were necessary in order to observe Jewish laws regarding sacrifices. So there’s thousands of people buying and selling hundreds of animals….mooing, bleating, squawking, messy animals. It was a madhouse! Like some big, noisy bazaar. In the temple! The place for worshiping God had been turned into a business operation. And it was the leaders who set all this up! They were dishonoring God. They showed a total disrespect for God. The temple was no longer about worshiping God—it was about making money. No wonder Jesus was furious.
What did Jesus do? He drove everyone out. Just like that. People. Animals. Everyone. And—amazing!—with no riot. No fighting back. Everyone just cleared out. I had never thought about this before: this was a miracle. The very fact that Jesus was able to clear the temple of all the people and all the animals AND without incident was an amazing miracle. It’s even more amazing when you understand that the Jews were pretty volatile people. They hated the Romans. They hated being under their rule, and the Jewish tendency was to riot first and ask questions later…always ready to fight. At this point in time, Jesus wasn’t well-known for His miracles. This was the very beginning of His ministry, and He had only performed one other miracle before this—and that was at a wedding. That miracle would have been seen only by those who were there—those few people who saw Jesus turn water into wine. But now, Jesus goes public with His miracle power. By His divine power, He cleared out this irreverent crowd single-handedly.
You know, this miracle should have opened peoples’ eyes, just like His many other miracles. Many of His other miracles were healings. But they weren’t done only to heal or feed thousands. Yes, He absolutely did work miracles because of His kindness and compassion for people. But what He really wanted them to see from His miracles was who He is—the Son of God. Jesus is God in the flesh. And by understanding that He is the Son of God, that people would believe in Him. What’s tragic is that so many saw His miracles first-hand and thought nothing of it. They just wanted more—more healing, more food. They were blind to who Jesus is. I pray your eyes will be opened, that you won’t miss Jesus’s point: recognize who Jesus is. And believe in Him. If you need a Bible or prayer, call me.
